Pokemon Go is approaching its first birthday fast, and Niantic has big plans to celebrate it. The gaming company is planning a number of in-game and real-world events to thank fans for their continued support.

In-game events and big surprises in store from Niantic

“Downloaded more than 750 million times in its first year, Pokemon Go will be bringing Trainers together in new and unique ways this summer through a variety of in-game and live events including Pokemon Go Fest, the first live Pokémon GO event organized by Niantic,” the company said in a blog post.

The first big event will be in the game and is called the Solstice Event. It’s scheduled for June 13, and it will include Ice-type and Fire-type Pokemon, discounted Lucky Eggs and XP bonuses. The event ends June 20 at 1 p.m. Pacific. In the blog post, Niantic hinted that a huge new update can be expected. The company will also launch collaborative gameplay sometime after the Solstice Event closes, giving players a “new way” to play the game.

“Soon thereafter, you can look forward to a new update focused on collaborative group gameplay features that will get you playing Pokémon GO in fun new ways,” the post reads.

Niantic also informed players that it will be closing down the in-game gyms temporarily to make preparations.

As far as what the big update could include, the company will probably add PVP battles, Legendary Pokemon and Raids, but for now, it remains a secret. Meanwhile, the developer recently pushed out an update, but it may not be enough for fans who are looking forward to sweeping changes being made to Pokemon Go. This recent APK update mostly includes bug fixes.

Real-world events for Pokemon Go fans

The first in-person event called Pokemon Go Fest Chicago is scheduled for July 22. At the fun-filled day, Pokemon Go fans will get a chance to meet other players and participate in a variety of activities. Tickets for the event will go on sale on June 19. However, there is no information on the pricing or details of the event, including what activities to expect at the festival.

For European fans, several events are planned between July and September, while for the Japanese audience, the company is planning an event called Pikachu Outbreak in Yokohama in August. The details of these events are also not known.

Pokemon Go launched last summer and has been downloaded 750 million times since then, making it a massive hit globally. Within seven months of its release, the game surpassed $1 billion in worldwide gross revenue, according to Sensor Tower, which based its calculations on the data from Google Play and the iOS App Store. However, the Sensor Tower report, which came out in February, pointed out that daily revenue from Pokémon Go has dropped sharply from $18 million earned in just one day in July 2016 to between $1.5 million and $2.5 million per day.

With these events, Niantic will be hoping to reignite fans’ dying interest in the game.

Author: Aman JainAman is MBA (Finance) with an experience on both Marketing and Finance side. He has worked as a Risk Analyst for AIR Worldwide, and is currently leading VeRa FinServ, a Financial Research firm. Favorite pastimes include watching science fiction movies, reviewing tech gadgets, playing PC games and cricket. - Email him at amanjain@valuewalk.com